Braydon and Sophia Robus, who live in Rye , have done it again — winning Gold in adaptive judo and mainstream judo, in a tournament in France, with trademark brilliance and quiet determination. Another shining moment for two remarkable young talents.
In interview with Janine Robus, Rye News has found out how well Braydon and Sophia have done recently in their competitions. Readers will remember that we have been keeping a track of their progress over the last few years.
What competition have they just returned from?
They have just come back from the European Judo Union Get Together Tournament in Houlgate, Normandy, which was held on 5 and 6 December. This is their last competition of the year!
How successful were they?
Braydon was upped to level 1 adaptive judoka, to push him and he achieved more than could be expected. He won all three fights and gained a Gold medal. He has worked hard to achieve this high standard.
The British Judo Association Adapative lead, Kerry Tansey, said, “I felt that Braydon needed the challenge and he proved his place as a level 1 judoka. I wouldn’t be doing my job right if I didn’t push the players.”
Sophia had two fights in the level 3 under 44kg category, she won them both. So she was given an extra fight against a 19-year-old lady, who is in the level 2 under 48kg category. This fight was to push Sophia with her fighting. She won the fight, dominating throughout. This shows her potential in the future.
How many competitions have they done in the last six months?
Definitely a lot of them!
1 June – Braydon was in Riga, Latvia with his kata partner (Isabelle) competing in the European Judo Union kata championships, where they competed in the adapted Nage-No- Kata category and they retained their European title.
1 June – Sophia competed in a local competition in Ashington, a mainstream competition and came away with Bronze.
15 June – Sophia competed in a team event with Kin Ryu Club (Crawley) fighting with three other girls in her team, they came away with Gold. Again this was a mainstream competition, giving Sophia experience.
2 August – BJA British Adaptive and VI Championships in Cardiff. Braydon fought with level 1 competitors coming away with Bronze (unfortunately he injured his knee and couldn’t compete in all his fights).
Sophia competed against three boys winning two fights, losing one, and she came away with Silver.
14/15 August – Competing in the European Judo Union Get Together in Gyor, Hungary. Braydon won all his fights and got Gold, Sophia also won all her fights and won Gold. They also got to do a mixed team’s event, and they won their fights and the team got gold. A different experience for them both.
13/14 September – Competing in the European Judo Union Get Together in Gdansk, Poland. Braydon was again given the chance to fight in level 1, but giving away 7kgs to his competitors, he still fought well and came away with Bronze. Sophia fought in two groups, winning all her fights and came away with two Golds.
4/5 October – Welsh Adaptive and VI open, Cardiff. Braydon fought well and came away with Silver. Sophia was put with boys again, won one fight, lost one, and came away with Silver.
4-8 November – Braydon was selected to be part of the GB adaptive squad for fighting (as well as kata). He went to the first ever European Judo Union Adapted Open Competition in Congeliano, Italy. He was in a higher weight category and again the lightest, giving away weight. He came away as European Bronze medallist. This was also the first time he went abroad on his own with the team, without family support, a huge achievement for him.
9 November, Braydon flew back to Stansted and went straight to the London adaptive competition at the University of East London, docklands campus. He fought and won all his fights and got Gold. Sophia fought in two categories and came away with Gold and Silver.
14/15 November, they went to the Dutch Open and Shenshu cup in Venray, Holland. Braydon fought in the morning losing just one fight out of three and got Silver.
In the afternoon he fought again beating the lad he lost to in the morning, and getting Gold. Sophia fought and won all her three fights, coming away with Gold.
What other training has Braydon been doing?
Braydon has also completed courses for his level 1 in Nage-No-Kata, Katame-No-Kata and Itsutsu-No-Kata. He has also had a go at mainstream Dan grading, a good experience for him and again to push him further. He is currently at 40 points towards his Dan grade (black belt). He has completed his Dan theory grading and Kata requirements.
In the new year Braydon is doing his level 2 coaching qualification, to improve his skills teaching others. He wants to share his skills with students coming up the ranks.
You mentioned some exciting news for 2026
It has been announced that the International Judo Federation, is doing an adaptive/para Grand Slam in Switzerland in August 2026, this is a first for the international judo federation supporting adaptive players to have the same opportunities as mainstream players. There will also be another European Judo Union Adapted Open competition for Braydon as well.
These youngsters are representing our country in all these competitions but as you can imagine it is very expensive with travel and training. The family are looking for local businesses to help with this by sponsoring them. Please get in touch if you would like to be part of these remarkable youngsters’ journey.
Please contact janinec1981@aol.com
Image Credits: European Judo Union Get Together Tournament , Janine Robus , Janine Robus .